fan
/fæn/noun, verb
fan is spelled F-A-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fan means “A hand-held device consisting of concertinaed material, or slats of material, gathered together at one end, that may be opened out into the shape of…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fan is fans or fen.
How many letters and syllables are in fan?
| Letters | 3: F-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 83 times per million words; the 1,272nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is fan?
Fan appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce fan?
- US /fæn/
- British /fan/
- British /faːn/
Fan has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Aquild-fan.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-fan.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with fan
Sounds like: faan, fanne (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with fan?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fan from its last stressed vowel (/æn/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of fan
- fans plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- fanning participle, present
- fanned participle, past
- fen plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fan mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A hand-held device consisting of concertinaed material, or slats of material, gathered together at one end, that may be opened out into the shape of a sector of a circle and waved back and forth in order to move air towards oneself and cool oneself.
- 2
An electrical or mechanical device for moving air, used for cooling people, machinery, etc.
He didn't switch on the fan because the temperature was 15 degrees Celsius.
- 3
The action of fanning; agitation of the air.
- 4
Anything resembling a hand-held fan in shape, e.g., a peacock’s tail.
- 5
An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.
- 6
A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock mill always in the direction of the wind.
- 7
A group of overlapping cards exposed in various patience games.
- 8
A section of a tree having a finite number of branches.
- 9
A person who is fond of something or someone, especially an admirer of a performer or aficionado of a sport.
I am a big fan of libraries.
- 10
datedA unit of length, equivalent to 0.1 tsun (0.01 chek), or 0.00371475 metres.
verb
- 1
To blow air on (something) by means of a fan (hand-held, mechanical or electrical) or otherwise.
We enjoyed standing at the edge of the cliff, being fanned by the wind.
- 2
To slap (a behind, especially).
- 3
To move or spread in multiple directions from one point, in the shape of a hand-held fan.
- 4
To dispel by waving a hand-held fan.
I attempted to fan the disagreeable odour out of the room.
- 5
To perform a maneuver that involves flicking the top rear of an old-style gun.
- 6
To invigorate, like flames when fanned.
- 7
To winnow grain.
- 8
To apply (the air brake) many times in rapid succession.
Fanning the brakes results in the gradual depletion of the pressure in the cars' brake reservoirs, which can eventually cause a loss of all braking.
noun
- 1
Initialism of file area network.
- 2
Initialism of free amino nitrogen, amino acids available for yeast metabolism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fan in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | éventail , ventilateur , éventer , disperser , fan, admirateur |
| German | Fächer , Ventilator, Gebläse, Lüfter , ventilieren, belüften |
| Portuguese | leque, abano , ventoinha, ventilador , ventilar , abanar |
| Spanish | abanico, abano, paipay, paipái, perico, pericón |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does fan come from?
Inherited from Middle English fan, inherited from Old English fann (“a winnowing, fan”), derived from Latin vannus (“fan for winnowing grain”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).